Head-rest for coffins



(No Model.)

J. L. KRAUSER.

HEAD BEST FOR OOFFINS.

No. 377,164. Patented Jan. 31, 1888.

N PETERS. Plwwulho n mr, Wuhin mn. 0.6

sure STATE ATENr Fries.

JOHN L. KBAUSER, OF LEEPER, PENNSYLVANIA.

HEAD-REST FOR COFFlNS.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 377,164, dated January 81, 1888.

Application filed March 4, 1887.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN L. Ksaosnn, of Leeper, in the county of Clarion and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Head-Bests for Coffins and Burial-Caskets, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide for coffins and burial-caskets asupport for the head of the corpse, which is or may be adapted to give the support to the head in such position and manner as to obviate all unsightliness of appearance and to prevent the head from becoming displaced or distorted in the transportation of the co'ffin or casket over rough or uneven roads to the place of sepulture.

The improvement consists in certain novel combinations, which are hereinafter described and claimed, constituting a head-rest in which the desired results are obtained.

Figure 1 in the accompanying drawings is a verticallongitudinalsectionalview of a portion of a coffin and of my improved head-rest applied therein. Fig. 2 is a transverse sec tiona-l view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A designates whatI call the base board of the head-rest, and B B designate two rigid side pieces or cheeks, of wood or other material, tor the lateral support of the head of the corpse, while the latter is supported on the base-board in the coffin 0.

To the under side of the base-board, at a short distance from its front end, there is firmly secured a cross-piece, a, which constitutes a support for its front part. The ends of this cross-piece project beyond the sides of the baseboard and have holes in them to receive screws D D,which are screwed into the bottom of the coffin to secure the head-rest in place. Under the back part of the baseboard there is a supporting-post for holding up the rear end thereof and giving the said board a proper inclination to the bottom of the co'ffin. This post is made with a round tenon at its upper end to fit easily into a hole provided for it in the base-board, as shown at b in Fig. 1, so that it can be removed for shipment, and the said post has secured in its lower end a sharp Serial No. 229,734. (No model.)

pin, a, the point of which will stick into the bottom ofthe coffin wherever it is placed when the head-rest is set in its proper position in the coffin. The cheeks or pieces B B, which constitute the side supports for thehead, may be straight on their outer sides and have their inner sides or faces curved to a form approximating to that of the sides of the human head, and they are secured firmly on the top of the base-board, and one of them at least should be adj ustablc. The side piece B is shown as made adjustable by providing in the rear part of its bottom a fixed dowel-pin, d, which may be inserted into either one of a transverse row of holes, 6 e, in the base-plate and by fitting its front part with a clamping-screw, E, which passes through it and through a slot, f, in the base board. While the nut of this clampingscrew E is slack, the said screw is free to move in the slotf, and the dowel-pin d can be shifted from one hole 6 to another, and hence the side piece B can be adjusted nearer to or farther from 13, according to thewidth of the head of the corpse, and the adjustment is secured by screwing down the nut of the clamping-screw.

The head-rest may be placed in any coilin or casket, and is adjustable therein on the bottom thereof and independently of the sides thereof to the exact position required for the proper support of the head of a corpse, no matter how much longer the coffin or casket may be than the corpse placed therein or how much wider that portion of the coftin or casket which receives the head of the corpse may be than the head itself. The rest is independent of all parts of the cot'tin or casket except the bottom thereof. It may be completely concealed from view when the head of the corpse is received within it by placing a quilted cloth loosely over the side pieces, 13 B, bct'ore placing the head between them.

XVh-at- I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The combination, in a head-rest for a coffin or casket, of a baseboard and side supports, one of which is positively adjustable on the said board, sul'astantially as herein described.

JOHN L. KRAUSER.

'Witnesses:

Ovens KRAUSER, SAML. K. CLARKE.

IOC 

